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| Jonathan Gold in Laura Gabbert's City of Gold |
Good as Gold
Rotten Tomatoes Plot: In this richly penetrating documentary odyssey, Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold shows us a Los Angeles where ethnic cooking is a kaleidoscopic portal to the mysteries of an unwieldy city and the soul of America. Combing through colorful neighborhoods in his green pickup truck, Gold is sniffing out his next strip-mall discovery-whether Oaxacan grasshopper soup, hand-cut tonkotsu ramen, or a particularly unctuous pad see ew. As piping-hot platters are served up, so are stories of immigrants whose secret family recipes are like sacred offerings pledged for the opportunity to build their American Dream. With eternal curiosity, razor-sharp intellect, and existential longing, Gold is a culinary geographer taking us where no critic has gone before. Directed by Laura Gabbert.
"Everybody in the world has an idea of what Los Angeles is," but few see/taste it the same way as Gold. He may not look like a typical food critic, but Gold seems to have something most critics don't... soul. The Pulitzer Prize winner not only embraces diversity, he reveres it; and in a city like Los Angeles, that means a lot. Restaurants that most other critics overlook, appear front and center on Gold's radar. I'm not sure about the "beauty of mini malls," but City of Gold is a refreshing take on food criticism & living in LA.
Grade: B
